Chapter 9
Nine
The drawing room is a large space with windows lining an entire wall, filling the space with gray winter light. Gilded mirrors hang on the opposite wall, intensifying the effect. A piano sits in a corner, a large harp next to it. Several string instruments are on the ground nearby, as if abandoned.
The other walls are lined with oil paintings of musicians playing instruments. They’re dark and moody, using dark colors that cast shadows on most of the faces. It’s at odds with the light in the room. As if two opposing styles were used when decorating.
“Thank you for delivering the princess,” Caiden says to the lingering legionnaires who escorted me from my rooms. They bow to their prince, then leave me alone with him.
“Four?” I ask as soon as the door closes. He sent four men to escort me, and two others stayed behind to watch my door. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”
“No. I’m simply protecting my investment,” he says.
“Brevan is still away?” I ask.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“That is not your concern,” he says.
“It is when he was sufficient to guard me by himself and since he left, I now need an entire legion to myself to keep me safe.” I set my hands on my hips while I study his reaction.
His expression doesn’t change. He’s very good at hiding whatever he’s feeling. “Six men is hardly a legion, but yes, Brevan is worth at least six by himself. So you do need more if he’s not around.”
I want him here so I can figure out how to take him down, but I suppose I could settle for him dying by someone else’s hand. “I hope wherever he is, he’s not in too much danger.”
“I wouldn’t worry about him,” Caiden says. “He’s faced death more times than anyone I know, and he always comes out laughing.”
“That’s an interesting way to describe someone who spends his time wiping out villages and killing innocents.” The words are out before I realize what I’ve said, and I press my lips together to keep myself from saying more.
“You’ve been asking questions, I see.” He makes an amused sound. “Or perhaps you learned more about my court than I realized before they sent you here.”
“Of course I learned about your court,” I say to cover my slipup.
“Did you also learn that those villages were conspiring against their emperor?” he asks. “Trying to revive ancient blood magic that could destroy all of us?”
“My education must have left that part out.” I cross my arms.
“For someone who watched her own father experiment on his people to try to recreate the magic we have here, you sure pass a lot of judgement.”
“Maybe I judge that, too,” I say.
“You’re naive, but you’ll learn,” he says. “You either show your people who is in charge and protect your power at all costs, or you lose it.”
“I think there must be other ways.”
“That’s because you’re a woman. You’re meant to be soft. Weak. Loyal and emotional. You’re meant to remind me of my humanity, but you would never have the ability to rule. You’d be crushed by a rebellion before your first year on the throne.”
Rage burns in my chest, and I’m so hot that my skin feels like it’s on fire. Maybe I should just kill him and hope the others can get to the emperor. Rid the world of at least one monster.
“I upset you.” He’s failing to hide his smirk.
“You underestimate me,” I reply.
“You don’t have to pretend you’re strong. If I wanted a woman who might kill me in my sleep, I’d have found a bride from the Shatterlands.”
Now I’m trying to hide my smirk. Because why hadn’t I thought of killing him in his sleep? “Is that why you need my father’s army? To fight against the women of the Shatterlands?”
“No. I could take them with my men, but I’d rather not risk my legions when I can sacrifice yours.”
“What makes you think our armies won’t turn against you once you give them magic?” I ask.
He grins, then extends his arm toward me, hand closed into a fist. When he opens his hand, flames rise from his palm, dancing and flickering.
I’m several feet away from him, but the temperature rises. Blue tongues blaze in the center of each flame. My jaw opens, and my eyes widen in surprise.
Shadows fill the room, obscuring all the windows. The only light is from the flames that still burn in his outstretched hand.
My mouth goes dry, and for the first time since I arrived, I’m afraid. I came here knowing I wasn’t likely to walk away, but I thought I’d take the prince and the emperor with me.
Suddenly, the flames go out, and we’re plunged into darkness. Something tightens around my waist, then around my legs and arms, binding me. I gasp, but my breath is stolen as my mouth is covered by something cold. I fight against the invisible bonds, and I fall to the ground in my struggles.
Light returns from the windows, and Caiden is looking down at me, a malicious grin on his lips. Shadows flow around him and slither across the floor. That’s what’s holding me in place. I’m bound by dark wisps of shadow. They’re getting tighter, constricting me, making it harder to breathe.
“First of all, if they try to defy me, I do hold something dear of theirs. You didn’t honestly think you were just here as the assurance of the treaty?
You’re here because if your father or his armies cross me, I will kill you.
You’re his only heir. Your people adore you. I did my research, too, Princess.”
The pressure around my ribs and stomach is so tight I can’t suck in air. Tears stream down my cheeks, and my vision blurs.
“So while we will give your father’s armies the same simple shadow magic we give our Night Legion, it isn’t true power.
They can cast shadows. Obscure the light.
It’s parlor tricks. Very few in our ranks can wield corporeal shadows.
And none of them have more than one kind of magic.
” He opens his hand, then as he closes it, he twirls his fingers.
The binds around me tighten, and I scream against my restraints.
“But what the gods gave me is real. And I can do this to an entire army if I need to.” He crouches down in front of me. “Do you understand?”
I’m afraid of him. Real, true fear. Is this why nobody can get to the emperor? I knew they had magic, but I didn’t know it was like this. Nobody in the rebellion knows.
He grips my chin and lifts it so I’m looking up at him. “You will know your place, and you will play your role. Do you understand?”
I nod.
“Good girl.” He releases my chin, then the shadows ease and I roll to my stomach, resting my forehead against the cool stone floor, gasping for breath.
“Collect yourself so I can show you how to dance properly,” he says. “I can’t have you embarrassing me.”
As I catch my breath, something else rises alongside the fear. Rage. Pure and hot. It doesn’t matter if I’m afraid. It just means I have to change my tactics.
He doesn’t realize it, but he’s told me exactly how to beat him.
I sit up, careful to keep my expression neutral, then extend my hand. With a smile, he helps me up. I smooth my skirts and take my time making sure everything is in its correct place. When I’m finished, I lift my chin and stare at him defiantly.
“Shall we?” He points to the abandoned string instruments; they rise into the air and begin to play. He offers his hand, palm up.
I set my palm in his, my skin prickling with unease at the contact. I want nothing more than to watch him take his last breaths.
He guides me to position, then begins to move his feet to the rhythm of the music. I follow along as best I can, stumbling frequently.
He mutters a few corrections, and I listen and adjust. I learn quickly.
I fake a smile. I memorize the steps, following him.
Thankfully, it’s not a difficult dance and it’s not much different than the dancing we did growing up.
Ours was with a group in a circle, this is with one other person.
The similarities help me get the steps more easily.
When the music stops, I curtsy to him. As soon as I rise, he grabs my chin again. “It’s nice to know you can be taught.”
I smile. “Give me some time to learn what you like and how things work in your court. I think you’ll be surprised by all I can accomplish.”
“That’s what I want to hear,” he says. “I don’t think you need another lesson. You’ll stay in your rooms until the dinner. I can’t have anyone in my court getting a look at you before you’re officially introduced.”
“Of course, Your Highness.”
He hums, then marches to the door and opens it. “Take the princess to her rooms. Nobody in or out without my permission. Understood?”
As I walk between the legionnaires, I can’t help but smile to myself. I got under his skin. He wants me to think him powerful because he worries he’s not seen that way. There’s an insecurity there. A weakness.
And it’s my job to exploit it.